Forbes Magazine Tips Cap to Royals (Nice article)

[T-post Tom]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbenj.../#53d71eaa5b86

30 Teams In 30 Days: Kansas City Royals Seek To Extend Their Reign

The Kansas City Royals are proof positive that a baseball team does not need to spend an insane amount of money in order to win a championship. Thanks to a combination of homegrown prospects, shrewd trades and smart spending in the free agency market, the Royals have in fact raised the bar in terms of how to build a winning team.

And the question presented itself at the start of this season: with all of the returning talent and some key additions as well, can Kansas City win a second title in a row?

It’s too early to tell, but one thing is certain. Team GM Dayton Moore has, in the last three years, turned the Royals from a sub-.500 squad into a World Series champion thanks to being patient with prospects and refusing to splurge on big name free agents and if Kansas City wins another championship, teams will be forced to reevaluate their spending habits when it comes to making a run at the World Series.

Why? The answer is simple. Kansas City has put itself in a perfect position to extend its championship reign using that exact approach.

2015 Overview

There was one question surrounding the Royals entering the 2015 season: was the team making a run from the American League Wild Card Game to Game 7 of the World Series in 2014 overachievement or the real thing? The answer was the latter as Kansas City picked up right where it left off and rolled to a 95-67 finish and the AL Central Division crown with a payroll of just $126.5 million, ranking just 14th in MLB and putting the Royals’ cost-per-win at just $1.3 million.

It’s also worth noting that Moore made some excellent trades during the season to fill key holes on the Royals’ roster. Omar Infante was underperforming at second base, so pitchers Aaron Brooks and Sean Manaea were traded to the Oakland Athletics for Ben Zobrist. Another key arm was needed, so a group of prospects headlined by lefty Brandon Finnegan were traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Johnny Cueto. Though top-of-the-line names, both were on expiring contracts and essentially rentals.

Fast forward to the Royals defeating the New York Mets in five games in the World Series, and each and everyone of those moves was worth the price.

And Moore continued his shrewd dealing in the offseason, as he re-signed star outfielder Alex Gordon to a four-year, $72 million deal when the 32-year-old probably could have received more money from another team. Other key moves were made, like bringing back former closer Joakim Soria on a three-year, $25 million deal to serve in a setup role and, if needed, close games out.

When the dust finally settled, Kansas City entered the 2016 season with a total payroll of $137.6 million, with the extra money spent only on essentials. Everything is in place so that the AL Central is the Royals’ to lose, so the rest is up to the players to prove just how badly they want to win another World Series and potentially change the face of team-building for the long-term.

Greatest Addition: Ian Kennedy

After Cueto left Kansas City to join the San Francisco Giants in free agency, Kansas City needed another reliable arm to fill the gap and picked up a great one in Ian Kennedy. The 31-year-old righty inked a five-year, $70 million deal with the Royals in January and though that seems like a lot for somebody who went 9-15 with a 4.28 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 2015, and that number looks even bigger given the fact that Kennedy was pitching for the San Diego Padres and had cavernous Petco Park as his home stadium.

However, Kennedy’s deal is far from a potential bad contract waiting to happen. He is only earning $7.5 million this season, down from last year’s $9.85 million salary, but will earn $13.5 million in 2017. The final three years of the contract will pay him $16.5 million per year, but here’s the catch. Kennedy can opt out after the second year of the deal. Thus, if he can pitch well over the first two seasons of the deal, he puts himself in a prime position to opt out and hit free agency once again to earn potentially more money.

And though last season’s performance is disconcerting, neither Royals fans nor team executives should worry. He is not a velocity pitcher and has a fine pitching coach in Dave Eiland, who worked with Kennedy previously when he was a young prospect with the New York Yankees. Most important of all, however, is that Kennedy is not expected to be an arm at the top of the rotation as he was with San Diego and, before that, the Arizona Diamondbacks. By settling into a middle-to-back end role, his confidence should increase and provide Kansas City with an excellent return on investment.

Greatest Loss: Ben Zobrist

The Royals’ odds of re-signing Zobrist in free agency were slim to begin with, especially with Omar Infante already under contract and prospect Christian Colon turning a lot of heads, but losing someone as versatile as him always hurts. The man can switch-hit and play multiple positions, and also hit .303 in the postseason in 2015, but also turns 35 in May.

Thus, it wasn’t really a surprise when Zobrist signed a four-year, $56 million deal with the Chicago Cubs.

Still, there’s no denying that Zobrist did some great things during his brief time in Kansas City. He hit .284 with seven home runs and 23 RBI across 59 games, and also played four different positions with the Royals: second base, third base, left field and right field, all while earning $7.5 million across Oakland and Kansas City. His leaving was inevitable and both Infante and Colon have their strong points, but Zobrist is truly a special kind of player whose time with the Royals won’t be soon forgotten.

Greatest Asset: Homegrown Core

There are a lot of perks to a winning baseball team’s core being made up almost entirely of young, homegrown talent, the main one being that these players’ respective prices can be mostly set at the team’s discretion fairly early. Such is the case with Kansas City, whose young homegrown core is the primary reason that the team has succeeded so much in the past couple of years.

This group of players is headlined by a number of players, but the ones that stand out are as follows: outfielder Alex Gordon, first baseman Eric Hosmer, third baseman Mike Moustakas and catcher and reigning World Series MVP Salvador Perez. Gordon just got a big raise via free agency and will earn $12 million this season, but the same cannot be said for the rest. Hosmer, Moustakas, and Perez all earn a combined $16 million, with Hosmer the highest-paid at $8.25 million and set to earn a significant raise in arbitration next winter.

Simply put, when the highest-paid player on the roster is someone who came up through the system and the best players on the field are the same kinds of guys, it’s clear that Moore is doing something right. All Kansas City has done is improve since Hosmer, Moustakas and Perez debuted in 2011, so it’s clear that this system of utilizing the minor league system and picking and choosing free agency targets worth. Barring major regression, everything is set in place for a Royals dynasty to become a reality.

Greatest Liability: Jason Vargas

Finding a liability on the Royals is a tough task, especially since most of the team’s payroll is committed to players that are well worth it and there are no heavy long-term deals on the books. However, given how Vargas is likely to miss all of this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last summer and hasn’t done much since signing a four-year, $32 million deal prior to the 2014 season, it’s hard to paint his contract as a good one.

Granted, the lefty hasn’t been absolutely awful since arriving in Kansas City, but hasn’t been the best either. He has gone 16-12 with a 3.76 ERA and 1.28 WHIP and will be earning $8.5 million in 2016 despite the odds of him throwing a single pitch at Kauffman Stadium being incredibly low. Those numbers are just average and nowhere near worth the salary he is being paid.

It’s also worth noting that Vargas is set to make $8 million in 2017, his contract year, but isn’t even guaranteed a spot in the rotation next season. Not only are rotation staples Ian Kennedy and Yordano Ventura locked into two of potentially five open spots, but two key arms in Edinson Volquez and Kris Medlen also have mutual options for 2017 and assuming both men play well, those options will be picked up. That leaves one spot in the rotation open, meaning that Vargas will likely have to compete with the likes of veteran Chris Young and, potentially, younger arms for that final opening.

Simply put, the deck is stacked against Vargas and with his age and injury taken into consideration, he’ll be hard to trade in return for any notable talent, meaning that the Royals could be stuck paying him more than he’s worth.

Final Thoughts

As was said before, the AL Central is the Kansas City Royals’ to lose this season. Moore’s approach to building a winner has been executed upon perfectly by manager Ned Yost and barring major injuries to key players or production experience a major step back, nothing should stand in the way of Kansas City continuing to raise the bar in terms of how to put together a championship team.

And the crazy part is that in order to raise that bar, the Royals don’t even need to win a second World Series in a row. Simply getting back to the Fall Classic would be enough, as would making it to the American League Championship Series for a third consecutive season. This team is so talented from top to bottom that continuing to play at a high level and stay in contention could wind up being enough after such a great 2015 campaign.

The fact of the matter is that the Royals are proof that a big budget does not a championship buy and their shrewd moves in the offseason set them up for even more success, so front office executives of opposing teams had better start taking notes.

[ct]

good read

[1moreTRich]

https://twitter.com/mcculloughtimes/...80072089726976

We have 6 million of insurance on Vargas, just FYI.